Since the invention of the solid state transistor, advances in electronic based technology have had a dramatic impact on human existence. Such solid state electronics provided a means for sending a man to the moon and probes across the galaxy. Electronic computing devices hundreds of times more powerful than the computers used to send a person to the moon are now commonly owned by ordinary people. Wireless communication devices that were once only props in science fiction movies are now commonly used. Indeed, such advances in electronic technology have been leveraged to improve the standard of living of the general populace to a level unthinkable just a few generations ago.
New and novel implementations (and improvements) of such technologies now make it possible to improve designs of old prior mechanical devices such as devices used for recreation. Such devices may include skate boards, water boards such as surf boards, and other devices. For example, professional surfers, perhaps performing stunts for a movie production, may wish to perform a variety of surf riding maneuvers that would be either extremely difficult or nearly impossible to achieve without a booster propulsion system associated with the surfboard. Surfing enthusiast may wish to perform similar moves after seeing such maneuvers, or alternatively, develop their own moves. What is needed is a propulsion system and associated control system configured for being associated with a traditional surfboard where the control system allows a user to effectively control the power generated by the propulsion system.
It should be noted that while powered water skis have been developed, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,529 issued to Montgomery (incorporated by this reference for all that it discloses). Such water skis would not be considered “surf boards” in the traditional sense. The Montgomery device requires the use of an arm pole that terminates in the universal left or right hand grip comprising finger controls. In contrast, for traditional surfboards, a user stands on the surfboard and uses balance alone (not an arm pole) to ride the board.
Prior art devices described above have another limitation on their design; they provide little or no information to the user. What is needed is an electronic module that can be associated with such devices that can provide a plurality of information/features to a user including at least one of the following groups of information/features: location data for locating the device, emergency information, environmental warnings, control features, display technology, booster system, wireless control system, lighting system, repellant system, anti-theft system, entertainment system, recording system, and communication system.